Description

YARNTON CHURCH LANE
SP4711 (West side)
13/165 Yarnton Manor and attached
26/11/51 wall and gateway
(Formerly listed as Manor
house)

GV II*

Manor house, now college. c.1611 for Sir Thomas Spencer; south wing rebuilt,
shaped gables built to front and interior remodelled in 1897 by Thomas Garner
for H.R. Franklin. Squared and coursed limestone; gabled stone slate roof;
moulded ashlar ridge and end stacks, Complex plan. Jacobean style. 2 storeys and
attic; symmetrical 5-window range. Shaped gables with obelisk finials to centre
and outer bays. Central frontespiece has early C17 four-light ovolo-moulded
stone-mullioned and transomed window, and Spencer arms in cartouche set in
nowy-headed panel flanked by obelisks above semi-circular arched doorway with
open spendrels and fluted pilasters. Centre bay flanked by similar early C17
five-light windows, with 4-light windows to right, and late C19 4-light windows
to left. Left wing has similar late C19 windows and 2-storey bow window. Rear
elevation has shaped gables with obelisk finials and central late C19 studded
door, and similar early C17 mullioned and transomed windows. Late C19 service
range to right, of similar materials, has pierced balustrade and C16 chamfered
light to rear. Interior: stone-flagged floors. Early C17 studded door set in
moulded Tudor-arched architrave to hall with late C19 Jacobean-style panelling
and 2 round-arched doorways to hall on left, which has late C19 panelling with
early C17 cartouches and panels and finely-carved arcaded frieze with caryatids;
early C17 arched ovolo-moulded fireplace, with strapwork panels and interlinked
fluted frieze, and heraldic achievement set in overmantel flanked by Ionic
pilasters with rosettes set in guilloche carving; C17 oval stone arches, which
held busts (said to be of Roman emperors) above panelling. In front of hall is
smaller room with late C19 panelled dado, and late C17 bolection-moulded
fireplace with painted and gilt decoration and Ionic pilasters to dentilled
cornice; De Witt painting of Dutch church interior set in pedimented overmantel
with Corinthian pilasters. Rooms to left have late Cl9 Jacobean-style panelling
and fireplace with overmantel. To right of hall is late C16 Tudor-arched moulded
stone doorway, late C19 Jacobean-style staircase with pierced balusters, and
late C19 panelling with pendants to strapwork plaster ceiling. First floor; late
C19 panelling to left; bolection-panelled room to rear has late C17 painting of
pastoral scene set in overmantel. Rooms to right: long gallery to front has
early C17 panelling with reeded pilasters; stone ovolo-moulded fireplace with
rosettes and lozenges to frieze flanked by herms; painted and gilded wood
overmantel with strapwork pilasters, honeysuckle frieze and marbled panels
flanking carved heraldic achievement. Late C17 bolection-panelled room and
similar doors in room to rear, which has walnut-graining to panels and early C17
stone ovolo-moulded fireplace with lozenges and roundels to architrave. Early
C17 panelling, with walnut-graining and fluted frieze, in room to rear right
which has early C17 moulded stone fireplace with panelled pilasters, and
overmantel with Ionic capitals and dentilled cornice. Stair-hall has similar
late C17 grained panelling. History: used as military hospital in Civil War,
after which the north and south wings (left and right) and range surrounding
courtyard to rear were demolished. It was then used as a farmhouse until 1895.
(Buildings of England: Oxfordshire: pp867-8; National Monuments Record)

Listing NGR: SP4769311627

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17548293

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)